Gayle says victim of ‘double standards’ in sexism row
LONDON: West Indies star Chris Gayle said Friday he was the victim of ‘double standards’ after sparking a sexism row with comments he made to a female television reporter in Australia.
Gayle, 36, came under fire for asking Australian broadcaster Mel McLaughlin out on a date in a live television interview during a Big Bash Twenty20 game in January.
“I wanted to see your eyes for the first time, hopefully we can win this game and then we can have a drink after as well,” said opening batsman Gayle, before adding: “Don’t blush, baby.” Gayle was widely criticised by players past and present for his remarks, as well as by Cricket Australia.
The Melbourne Renegades franchise fined him 10,000 Australian dollars (US$7,400) and decided against renewing his contract.
He fanned the flames further with the recent publication of his autobiography and in an interview last month with a female journalist in The Times magazine.
In the article, the Jamaican boasted of his ‘very, very big bat’.
He also asked journalist Charlotte Edwardes if she had ever ‘had’ a black man and been in a threesome.
Gayle remains one of the biggest draw cards in world cricket and has just started a stint with Somerset in English cricket’s domestic T20 Blast event, having enjoyed a successful spell with the southwest county in 2015.
But what he sees as a rejection by Australian cricket still stings, with Gayle feeling his contribution in helping launch the Big Bash has been ignored.
“I didn’t feel like I was being treated right at that particular time,” he said in an interview with the BBC World Service’s Stumped programme, extracts of which were published Friday ahead of Saturday’s broadcast. — AFP